Sheet collectors for collecting paper sheets into piles



p 1958 P. HEIMLICHER ETAL 2,850,231

SHEET COLLECTORS FOR COLLECTING PAPER SHEETS INTO FILES Filed Oct. 14,1953 United States Patent SHEET COLLECTORS FOR COLLECTING PAPER SHEETSINTO PILES Paul Heimlicher and Ludwig Vetter, Berne, Switzerland,asslgnors to Maschinenfabrik Winkler, Fallert & Co. A. G., Berne,Switzerland Application October 14, 1953, Serial No. 386,090

Claims priority, application Switzerland October 21, 1952 4 Claims. (Cl.271-71) The present invention relates to apparatus for collecting sheetmaterial into stacks of predetermined number.

The function of sheet collectors in folding machines is to cause asubstantial slowing down in the paper sheets arriving at the same speedas the machine and to collect these sheets on a running band or beltwithout causing any damage to the finished printed product during thisdelaying process. The products thus sloweddown generally drop on to acontinuously moving belt, the sheets overlapping on it in the manner ofscales. One of the sheets is made to take up a slightly differentposition after every 25 or 50 sheets by means of a special arrangementso that piles or bundles which are always of the same size can be pushedup by hand without having to be counted. Pushing up the bundles by handis not always desirable. For example, when the machines are fastrunning, the operators cannot catch up and the number of operators atthe collector cannot be increased for reasons of space. When qualityproducts are being printed in book printing or offset printing there isalso a risk of the fresh, not yet completely dried print becomingsmeared in the pushing up operation. Means have therefore been sought soas to form these bundles mechanically and so that they have only to beremoved by the operator. The constructions so far known work either withor without the standard collector star. Those constructions which do notuse the collecting star suffer from the disadvantage that they are notabsolutely sure'to collect exactly the same number of sheets in all thebundles. When the known form of collecting star is used diflicultiestake place during the transition from one bundle to the next, this beingdue to the fact that the finished bundle under the star takes up acertain amount of space according to the number of pages, the collectingbelt having to be set to this space. The first sheets of the freshbundle have then to drop fairly freely into this space so that they caneasily take up the wrong position, particularly when the operation istaking place at great speed. The arrangements operating in conjunctionwith the collector star have always been arranged outside the latter.

The invention remedies these drawbacks. It is characterised by thefeature that, for forming the bundles or piles, further star-shapeddiscs are arranged on the shaft of the collector star. Fixed, slidable,rocking or other blades are provided on these discs, and are movedrelative to the shaft by means of eccentrics, cams or the like. Thesediscs rotate at a different, i. e. smaller speed than the collectorstars. The bundle which is forming moves into a space which opens out inwedge-shape.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing.

Fig. 1 is a cross-section through the apparatus pursuant to theinvention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken along lines IIH of Fig. 1.

The blades 1 of the collector starts 2 catch the sheets 19 coming fromthe folding rollers 3 and convey them at reduced speed which depends onthe number of blades 1 at the periphery and the diameter of thecollector star 2. Blades 4 are mounted for radial or reciprocatingdisplacement in the slower rotating, star-shaped discs 5. Pins 6carrying rollers 7 are mounted on the blades 4 and ride in radial slots5a in the discs 5. The rollers 7 are pressed against cam surfaces 9 bysprings 8. The cam surface 9, shaped as shown in Fig. 2, is formed bycutting out a portion of a plate 10, held by a cross bar 11. Thecollector stars 2 are fixed to the shaft 12. On the other hand, thediscs 5 are rotatably mounted on the shaft 12. They are provided withteeth 13 and are driven by the gear wheels 14 which are mounted on theshaft 15. The speed of discs 5 relative to the shaft 12 is dependentupon the number of sheets to be contained in each bundle.

A wedge-shaped space is formed by means of, for example, three beltsystems 16, 17 and 18 and the collector stars 2. The belts of thesystems 16, 17 and 18 move uniformly and at the same speed as the blades4 and convey together with the blades 4 the bundle 20 being formed outof the machine, the blades 4 extending consecutively into thewedge-shaped concavity.

The drawing shows the apparatus at that instant when the last sheet 21has been added to the bundle 21). Through the action of the cam surface9, the blade 4 has moved out from the disc 5 causing the next sheet 19to be intercepted. The sheet 19 becomes the first sheet in the newbundle now forming. As the blade 1 is turning faster than the blade 4,it slips under sheet 19 so that this sheet lies against the band 16, atthe same time leaving the passage open for the next blade provided withthe next sheet. In this manner the new bundle is gradually formed, withboth blade 4 and band 16 as a support. As blade 4 advances'slowly band17 replaces band 16 as a partial support and finally band 18 serves tocarry away the built up stack.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention and it is intended that suchobvious changes and modifications be embraced by the annexed claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. In an apparatus for collecting sheet material into stacks ofpredetermined numbers, including a shaft and a collector star securedthereon and rotatable therewith and conveyor belt means for conveyingsaid stacks away; in combination, a star shaped disc disposed about saidshaft for rotation at a slower speed than said collector star, said discbeing provided with a plurality of radially extending slits; radiallydisplaceable blade means disposed in said slits, respectively; pinssecured to and extending axially from said blade means and inwardly ofsaid disc; a plurality of rollers, each said roller being transverselysecured to one of said pins at its juncture with its respective blademeans; a plurality of springs secured to said disc, each of said springsarranged on each of said pins for urging said blade means out of saidslits; cam means controlling the displacement of said blades in saidslits, said cam means comprising a fixed plate member adjacent saiddisc, and formed with an eccentric cam surface contacting said rollersand restraining said blade means, having its widest profile adjacent theconveyor belt means, one of said blade means being urged through one ofsaid slots and contacting said conveyor belt means for building up astack of sheets thereon as a support when said collector star and saiddisc are rotated.

2. In an apparatus according to claim 1, including a pair of endlessbands running at an angle to each other and defining a wedge-shapedspace therebetween, said blade means extending into said space duringstack buildup, said stack being supported by said blade means and one ofsaid bands initially and then by said blade means and the other of saidbands as said blade means rotates, said other band conveying away saidstack after termination of the build-up thereof when the next of saidblade means commences build-up of a new stack.

3. In an apparatus for collecting sheet material into stacks ofpredetermined numbers, including a shaft and collector star meansrotatably disposed on said shaft; a star-shaped disc disposed about saidshaft for rotation at a slower speed than said collector star means,said disc being provided with a plurality of radially extending slits, aplurality of radially displaceable blades disposed in said slits,respectively, pins secured to and extending axially from said blademeans and inwardly of said disc, a plurality of rollers, each saidroller being transversely secured to one of said pins at its juncturewith its respective blade; a plurality of springs secured to said discs,each arranged on each of said pins for urging said blades out of saidslits, an eccentric cam surface restraining said blades and holdingthelatter in said slits, the profile of said cam surface controlling thedisplacement of said blades as said disc rotates, and a supportingsurface complementary with said blades, successively, wherebyrotasupporting surface, rotation of said disc causing said stack toadvance with said one blade relative to said supporting surface untilthe next one of said blades initiates build-up of the next stack.

4. In an apparatus according to claim 3, said supporting surface beingformed of three endless belts disposed at an angle to each other andbeing concave with respect to said shaft, whereby a stack is built upbetween one blade and the first of said belts, said stack advancingduring build-up to the second of said belts and then to the third ofsaid belts upon completion of build-up, said third belt conveying saidstack away.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS331,282 Crowell Dec. 1, 1885 1,949,152 Frankboner Feb. 27, 934 1,985,547Quick Dec. 25,1934 2,172,364 DeManna Sept. 12, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS501,464 Great Britain Feb. 28, 1939 601,493 Great Britain Oct. 15, 1948

